The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-05-05
Uncle Remus,

L Uuclc nemu0s
Joel Chandler Harris modestly denies
to his performances the merit Of litera-
ture, counting them simply as "stuff''
prepared during the leisure moments of
an active journalistic career, aud lack
ing in all that goes to make permanent
literature. Mr.. Harris's reputation
rests mainly upon his delineation Of
negro character and skillful reproduc-
ton Of negro dialect in the ..Uncle Re-
mus" series. wherein he has preserved
the unique and picturesque folklore of
the Southern plantation. However
good his stories of mountaineer and
moonshiner. they must yield place to
those in which are chronicled the say
ings and doings Of that abandoned and
altogether delightful reprobate Brer
Rabbit, and his neighbors of field and
thicket. Every man who in his first
youth was alternately fondled and tyr
annized over by that wellnigh extinct
functionary. the old-fashioned black
..mammy' with utmost reverence let
her be mentioned offer to Mr..
Harris grateful thanks for the preserva-
ton of the dear familiar tales, whose
qnaintness and drollery cannot fail to
fascinate less fortunate mortals.
His journalistic career was begun in
1862, when, lad of fourteen, he went
as printers apprentice into the Office Of
the Countryman, a little weekly paper
published upon a Georgia plantation
ten miles from any post-office. Amid
the most peaceful of ruralsurroundings,
broken only by the call Of the partridge
and the barking of squirrels, he learned
to set type. The desire to write. pro-
voked by 1.-The Vicar Of Wakefield"
and stimulated by the Fudge" stories,
still burned within him; SO into the
columns of the Countryman crept GER
tain articles set from the ..case" with
out previous existence in manuscript.
This course did not prevent detection;
but the editor made no comment, and
began lending to the ambitious ap-
prentice many volumes from his large
and choice library. While engaged up
on the Countryman he became familiar
with the plantation legends of Brer
,,
sorbing the songs and myths OF the
negroes without any conception of their
literary value. unrealized until about
ten years ago. when an article upon the
subject appeared in one Of the Northern
magazines. The great bulk of the
matter making up his first volume of
negro folk lore Uncle Remus, his
nN,sh txl
to the columns of the Atlanta Constitu-
ton. The success Of this book was i'm
mediate on both sides of the Atlantic.
extending even to India, and led to the
production of "A Rainy Day with Uncle
Renus'' and .Nights with Uncle
Remus.' in which are gathered some of
| the best of the animal stories, together
with some capital touches in the treat
ment of negro character.
Mr.. Harris is vet in the prime of life,
having been born. of parents in humble
circumstances. in the little village of
Eatonton. Putnam County, Georgia.
December 3, 1913. His literary career
he regards as thing of accident
throughout The Vicar of Wake
field" which his mother read aloud
when he was small child, first inspir-
ed Il desire to express his thoughts on
paper, the outcome Of this desire being
a number of little stories i'm which the
conversational capacity of the characters
was limited to the single exclamation.
Fudge" Though none of these little
tales have survived, "since their key
note was .Fudger " says Mr.. Harris.
..they must have been very close to hui
man nature" Mr.. Harris is by pro-
fession a newspaper man, having been
for many years on the staff of the
Atlanta Constitution, one of the leading
newspapers of the South, upon which
he continues to do editorial work.
From the editorial sanctum he puts
forth no claim to that literary distinc-
ton which has deservedly come upon
him.
/ These volumes are a unique cOntribu-
ton to literature, done to the life by q
faithful and loving hand. In ..Mingo
and Other Sketches" Mr.. Harris intro
duces the countryman of middle Geor-
gia and the mountaineer with good sue
cess; but he is ut his best while depict
ing the old-time negro with his quaint
humor and dialect and inexhaustible
store of imitable stories. That picture
of miss Sally's'' little boy and the
grizzled old negro seated in the light OF
the blazing pine knots, the grotesque
shadows playing among the rafters and
along the walls of the cabin. is bit of
genre. Then there is the pitiful figure
of Free Joe, contrasting SO forcibly
with the careless happiness and self-im-
portance of Uncle Remus, Mr.. Harris
has done nothing better than this.
Free Joe and the Rest of the World
the very title is a sermon.-CHARI.Es
w. COLEMAN, Jr.. in Harpers' Magazine